Bobby Cain, Who Helped Integrate Tennessee Schools, Dies
Brother Bobby Cain (59′ Rho Psi), a towering figure in Tennessee’s civil rights movement and one of the first Black students to integrate a public high school in the South died Monday, September 22, 2025, at the age of 85 in Nashville.
One year before the “Little Rock Nine” integrated Arkansas’ Central High School, Cain was the first African American graduate of Clinton High School in East Tennessee and was among the “Clinton 12”, a group of Black students who were eligible to attend the school on Aug 26, 1956.
Brother Cain, a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, attended Tennessee State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1961. He then served in the United States Army from 1963-1965. Following his military service, he went on to have a long career with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, retiring as a supervisor in 2002 after 30 years.
He was a faithful and longtime member of Asbury United Methodist Church in Clinton. Additionally, he was also an associate member of Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church in Nashville.
Rest In Omega!
View this post on Instagram
